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karatecatman · Guest

HINDUSTAN TIMES
Russia demands $700 million more for Admiral Gorshkov

India’s efforts to induct Admiral Gorshkov aircraft carrier into its fleet took another hit with Russia seeking an additional US $700 million from India for the repair and refit works it is carrying out in Sevmash Shipyard.

The Russian decision to seek $ 700 million was conveyed to India on February 10 during the bilateral meeting to re-negotiate the Russian demand for additional payment for the 44,500-tonne warship, Defence Ministry officials said today.

The Sevmash Shipyard was also stressing on an immediate release of US $ 190 million for continuing the repair work, which had slowed down due to the fresh price negotiations.

This $ 700 million demand was over and above the additional $ 1.2 billion the Russians were already demanding for the warship bought by India in 2004 for US $ 974 million.

New Delhi was informed by a Russian delegation that the Russian President would agree on a final price of US $ 2.9 billion, the officials said.

The new demand is likely to further upset the Navy’s plans for induction of the ship before 2012, which is a revised delivery schedule for the aircraft carrier originally planned for delivery in 2009.

www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/0083e4d4-b5c6-4611-8958-417a19d68bcd
[i]Copyright 2007 Hindustan Times

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www.indianexpress.com/news/expensive-gift/426313/
Expensive gift
The Indian Express

Feb 21, 2009 at 0156 hrs IST

India’s attempt to procure the Admiral Gorshkov may not have been technically bad from the start, but it appears to be so now, without doubt. This Kiev Class aircraft carrier was decommissioned in 1996 after a rather chequered and short history of service. Now, Moscow has told New Delhi that the deal will cost yet another $700 million. The ship will not be delivered before 2012; and the final amount stands at $2.9 billion, a rather heavy price for something Russia was to deliver on August 15, 2008 at a gift price of $1 billion. But even if India is stuck with this bad deal, there’s no denying that we need the Gorshkov (rechristened Vikramaditya).

India’s sole aircraft carrier, INS Viraat, is now a high-maintenance vessel undergoing overhaul to extend its sea life. Viraat was not available to India during Kargil, and is expected to last at best till 2011. Therefore, India needs another aircraft carrier for several reasons. First, the necessity of a blue-water navy capable of influencing events in the Indian Ocean. Second, the strategic shift of the Chinese military from land to sea-based doctrine, coupled with its investments in aircraft carriers and nuclear submarines to acquire long legs reaching into the Indian Ocean. Third, the increased vulnerability of global sea lines carrying Oil in India’s backyard, as well as threats along our long coastline. Fourth, our sad experience with indigenisation — India’s indigenous air defence ship is still a work in progress and may not be ready before 2014-15. Naval aviation is a highly specialised field and needs big aircraft carriers. Thus, India will have to buy the Gorshkov, and pay up in order to do so.

The Gorshkov saga should be a learning experience for India. The defence establishment will have to come out of its Cold War-era, single-source mindset, which anyway belies other big and dependable partnerships, most notably with Israel. It’s time to analyse hardware defence procurement from Russia as a whole, which supplies the same equipment to China, which uses Indian money to subsidise its decrepit shipyards, and which withheld critical technology for the T90s and is the cause of our bigger problem of spare parts. Defence is often a sellers’ market, and the Gorshkov deal was perhaps inevitable at the time. But the larger point is, defence deals mean cold and hard bargaining, not redundant emotional ties. India must watch its step as it goes shopping. The path to national security and strategic edge is one of careful and considered negotiation through available options.